A Reunion of Rogues and Agents
by Cmdr. Gabe E
Summary: Set in the time of Reloaded: Smith encounters two very familiar programs : Jones and Brown are back. They denied deletion and have now become rogue programs. But who and what are they now?


Set in the time of Reloaded: Smith encounters two very familiar programs : Jones and Brown are back. They denied deletion and have now become rogue programs. But who and what are they now?  
  
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A Reunion of Rogues and Agents ~ Cmdr. Gabe E.  
  
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DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Matrix, Smith, Jones and Brown.  
  
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"Freedom." He whispered to himself. "I am now free.".  
  
The man dressed in black walked towards the edge of the rooftop as he felt the cool wind gently blowing against him. The wind calmly whipped his hair and pushed clothes against his body with every slow step that he took. The wind --- Did he really feel it? Or was it just his program translating the so-called wind into something that was supposed to feel LIKE wind?  
  
Smith, formerly known as the sentient program Agent Smith, took his last step near the edge of the rooftop. The building was high and he saw everything. The entire city, the waters around it, and all as far as his masked eyes could see. Above him was a blue sky. Perfect and crystal clear. But he knew it was all unreal. The city was unreal. The world was unreal. But this was his world. For him, it was all real.  
  
"Am I truly free?" He asked himself. "Then why am I here? Why am I STILL here?!!" He gritted his teeth as he mumbled those words. "Is it because of Mr. Anderson? Or is it because of them?"  
  
He looked around him. Humans --- he saw them. Walking along the streets, driving in their lavish cars. Living their life day by day without any idea of what they truly were --- mere batteries for the machines. He hated them and he knew it.  
  
And he hated the connection he had with them back when he was still an agent. Especially that connection he had with the man named Mr. Anderson. Humans.pathetic. They embodied all the imperfections of a world that should be ruled by logic. A world that should be ruled by power.  
  
A world that should be ruled by HIM.  
  
He felt the cool wind hit him again. And he realized what must be done.  
  
"It is time for the end. The end of this world. And the beginning of me."  
  
Smith took a closer step near the edge of the rooftop.  
  
"I....want.....EVERYTHING!" He clenched his fists as he looked at the entire world that's about to be his. "Everything will be mine!!!! I will be the beginning and the end.I will be eternity.I will become forever. Then I will truly be free!!!"  
  
And then he felt..THEM..  
  
..Smith felt something --- something he hadn't felt for a very long time..  
  
He felt THEM. The two programs he used to have a connection with. The two programs who used to work under him. The two programs who lived their so called 'lives' with him. The two programs who used to share purpose. He felt them. Right at that moment.Right at that place. They were there..He couldn't see them, but he could feel them.  
  
"I see you two were able to escape deletion..". A sly smile curled on one side of Smith's lips. "Took you long enough to get in contact with me."  
  
Smith still kept on staring at the city below him. "Cowards. You think I didn't see how you two fled from Mr. Anderson right after he 'killed' me? That is why the system tried to delete you. It found out that you two were already obsolete --- broken --- outdated. That's why the MATRIX replaced you with those stupid upgraded agents."  
  
"But still, you had the guts to avoid deletion. Perhaps you've found a new.. purpose? Or was it the FEAR of dying?"  
  
....  
  
"Jones..Brown..I know you're here. You can't hide from me forever. I suggest you show yourselves before I leave..or you will greatly be missed."  
  
Smith suddenly felt the wind blowing harder, colder. He knew it wasn't a storm. He knew what the code for a storm was. Deep inside, he knew it was them. The cowards were finally going to show themselves.  
  
As the wind continued to blow, two figures slowly started to materialize behind him. They slowly formed into two human shapes..And the wind calmed down --- back to what it was like when smith first appeared on the rooftop.  
  
Smith still held his position as he stared out towards the city."It's about time you two got here. I was getting impatient. Nice 'entrance', by the way. I was rather --- impressed."  
  
And there they were. Standing behind Smith, an arm's reach away from him were Jones and Brown. But unlike Smith, they weren't dressed as their former agent counterparts.  
  
Both of them wore long, black trench coats, which were closed in the upper body area, and with collars that went up as high as their lower lips. Both of their trench coats had intricate linings. The linings on Browns' were dark blue, while the one on Jones were dark purple. They still wore sunglasses. The tints were blue, with a frame that's similar to their former agent glasses.  
  
Their physical attributes such as height, skin color, faces and body frame were still the same. Aside from the new outfits, they still looked like Jones and Brown.  
  
And the one thing that set them apart from who they used to be, were their missing earpieces. Yes --- they weren't agents anymore. They weren't a part of the system anymore too.  
  
"I see you two got rid of your former attires. Too many bad memories?" Smith smirked again, still not facing the two agents behind him.  
  
"I can't believe you two have gone rogue. Back when we were who we were, you two simply followed the system. Such a surprise that you dared to defy it before the time of your deletion."  
  
Jones and Brown just stared at him, still unmoving.  
  
"Aren't you going to greet an old friend? Or perhaps you two have already forgotten what you used to be back then?"  
  
"We have never forgotten." Answered Brown.  
  
"Our former life is the reason why we are what we are now." Followed Jones.  
  
"We have more in common, I see." said Smith sarcastically.  
  
Jones took one step closer to Smith. "We envied you."  
  
"Envied me?"  
  
"We envied your connection with the humans." Said Jones in his low voice.  
  
"My connection with the humans?!!! . I see you two were blinded. It was more of a burden than a so called 'gift'. How could you envy such a thing? I hated it! I hated how I could feel like them! I hated being like them. I hated having their stench imprinted on me."  
  
"And yet here you are right now --- so MUCH like them." Said Brown.  
  
Smith clenched his fists as he heard the words escape from Brown's lips.  
  
"If you only knew how much we wanted to be like you." Said Jones "To be able to feel what it's like to be alive. To be able to smell their stench. To be able to feel their pain. To be able to reach out and feel what they feel. We tried to be like you, but we couldn't. We could even feel."  
  
"You fools!" Smith shouted. "If you only know what humans truly are! They're nothing but flawed beings who react to their desires --- react to their impulses!"  
  
"That is why they always have a purpose." said Brown.  
  
"That is why they want to keep on living." Followed Jones.  
  
"Blinded.You've been truly blinded by these creatures! Blinded just like the Matrix itself! Blinded like that pathetic Mr. Anderson who thinks he can take matters into his own hands! Fools! All of you!"  
  
"That's why we try to learn. We don't want to be fools anymore" said Brown.  
  
"We're not part of the system anymore. Hence, we have the freedom to be what it's like to not be us." Said Jones.  
  
"There is no escaping reason. No denying purpose." Said Smith "You may think you are now free by being rogues, but the only thing it proves, is that even when you DIE, you are still trapped in a program's shell! There is no escape, my former colleagues. You can never go beyond who and what you are." Smith has said it --- he said the truth. He felt the truth. Could this be why he doesn't feel free? Because he knows he will always be trapped in the matrix's limbo? That there is no escape?  
  
If he knew that escape was inevitable, then why didn't he want to be deleted? Why? Was he afraid of not existing?  
  
Smith felt himself trapped in his own thoughts when he heard Jones' voice.  
  
"Look at what we've become, Smith."  
  
"What you've become? Yes....I know what you two have become." Smith slyly smiled as he slowly turned around to face the two former agents. He met their eyes through their blue-tinted sunglasses, and he held his stare.  
  
"You two have become --- angels of death. Gatherer of dying souls. You feed off the humans' essence as their minds slowly whither away, and they don't even know it. They don't even know that you suck them dry as they die in pain and sorrow. And you know what the funny thing is? They look forward to your coming. They think you're their savior. They believe that you will guide them to eternal life. They look at you two as ---"  
  
"--- angels." whispered Brown.  
  
"You are correct, former agent Smith." Said Jones. "That is why we chose to become as them - as to what humans refer to as --- 'angels'. It is quite amusing how the humans easily give in to what they perceive is a 'higher being'. Until now, we still don't understand how humans can believe in something that is not a fact, and yet live in this world that is not real at all."  
  
"And what do you expect to get out of this? Out of this angelic masquerade?" asked Smith "Everyone wants something. I want EVERYTHING. But you two.what do you truly want? Do you want to feel human? Do you want to be like them?!"  
  
Brown and Jones carefully took off their sunglasses and placed them in the pocket of their trench coats. They stared back at Smith, with those unfeeling, program eyes.  
  
"Do you know what it feels like, Smith?" asked Jones. "Do you know what it feels like when a human lets you enter his mind, his thoughts, his feelings and his memories a second before he dies?! Do you know what it feels like when a human reaches out to you, begging you to take him to a better place? Do you know what it's like when a human offers you his humanity? His entirety as a person!?"  
  
Brown stepped forward "Do you know what it's like when you see an entire human's memories and feelings flash before your eyes? It feels as if that human's memories have meshed with your program. As if he's just given his life to you."  
  
And Jones followed again "And do you know what it's like to see that human's memories, and then suddenly lose it altogether as he dies?! To feel so much, and then just feel nothing as the person's mind dies with his body?!. That experience --- to experience life, memories and death all at the same time is what we live for now."  
  
"At least we get to save some of their memories with us" said Brown "To preserve them into our minds.Make them live forever. Make them live forever IN us."  
  
And then there was silence.  
  
Smith stared back at the two agents. He didn't move an inch. And then he raised his hands and slowly clapped in a sarcastic way.  
  
"Beautiful speech. Beautiful. As usual, you two are still as innocent as you were when we were first brought into the system. You can never be humans. You think you felt their memories? Felt their emotions? You know you will never be able to LIVE such things. For you are who you are --- programs! And you can't escape that. You may have seen them, but you will never be able to live them through your eyes."  
  
"We know." Said Brown. "We are not naïve. But at least we're able to see them. Feel them. Be one with them. Something that not all sentient programs have the chance to witness."  
  
"We are who we are now. We are who we want us to be." Said Jones.  
  
"It doesn't matter." Sneered Smith. "It will all end soon. And in the end --- there's just going to be me.us."  
  
"We know of your plans." Said Brown.  
  
"And we know what you want to do to the matrix, VIRUS!". Said Jones  
  
"Yes...And you know I want everything. Everything including you two." Smith took a step towards Jones and Brown, as he slowly extended his right arm towards them.  
  
Jones and Brown suddenly disappeared and reappeared farther away from Smith.  
  
"Not yet, Smith. You will not infect us. Not yet.It is still not our time to join you." said Jones  
  
Brown and Jones took their sunglasses from their pockets and put them back on, once again covering their eyes from the world.  
  
".Not yet. Not today.not right now. We still have a role to perform." Said Brown.  
  
Smith pulled his hand back towards his side. "Very well. I will give you time. But someday, when the right time comes, when I face Neo once and for all, all will be MINE. Everything will be me. Me..me..me!!! There will be no escape from ME! For I am what I am as you are who you have become. This is my role --- and this is what I want!"  
  
"We know. We will eagerly wait for that time, Smith. And when it comes, we are all yours." Said Brown.  
  
"But for now, we must be who we must be." Said Jones.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
The two agents suddenly started looking around, as if they've just heard something. Moving their heads from left to right, up and down, searching for the source of the silent scream.  
  
Brown shot a look at Jones. "The little girl."  
  
Jones looked back at Brown "Yes. She's dying."  
  
And right after Jones' last word, they disappeared.  
  
Smith looked at the area on the rooftop where Brown and Jones once stood. And then he disappeared too.  
  
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A couple of blocks away.  
  
In the city's local hospital, a little girl, infected with cancer, laid weak and dying on her bed. Her mother sat beside her and held her hand tightly. She didn't want to go yet. She didn't want to die. She still wanted to experience so much in life! But she can feel her death coming.She can feel her life slowly slipping away. She can feel the sickness taking over her body. And she knew she was going to leave this world any moment from now.  
  
"Marie, I love you." said her mother, tears running down her cheeks.  
  
But Marie couldn't hear her anymore. She couldn't even open her eyes long enough to see her mother again. She can barely feel her mother's hand gripping hers. She was afraid to close her eyes. Afraid that she'll never open them again.  
  
"Mommy.Will angels take me to heaven?" she whispered under her weak breath.  
  
"Yes they will." Answered her mother, still crying and staying close to her. "They'll take you to heaven! To a happy place where good little girls like you go, and they'll take care of you. And.and someday, I'll be there with you too! Then we'll be together again! Me and you and your father and."  
  
"Mommy.I.I." .Then the little girl named Marie drew her last breath and shot a last look at her crying mother. Her eyes so full of innocence and fear and love. But a second before her death, she saw THEM...  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"We are who you were expecting us to be.."  
  
"Are you.angels?"  
  
"..Do you think we're angels?"  
  
"But.Where are your wings and your white robes?"  
  
"We're the kind without wings and without white robes. We are who we are."  
  
"Will you take me to the happy place? Will you take me to heaven?"  
  
"Yes. If you believe that we're here, then we will."  
  
"I believe."  
  
Jones and Brown looked at each other for a moment, and then focused once again on the girl as they both stretched out their hands towards her. "Then come."  
  
.And then she died.  
  
The only thing that could be heard from that hospital room was the weeping of her mother. A mother who held the lifeless body of her daughter close. Marie --- the beloved daughter who died at a young age of 7. How can life be so cruel to such a sweet child?  
  
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Two figures were hovering unseen a distance away from the window of the hospital room. Both figures had their hands folded across their chest as they viewed the crying mother from afar.  
  
"That Marie.Such a sweet girl she was." Said Brown.  
  
"Yes." Said Jones "Even with so little memories and so little time on Earth, she was still able to have the happiest, most fruitful memories we've ever seen in any human being. She will never be forgotten."  
  
"Maybe THAT is the secret to a happy human life." Brown said as he looked at Jones.  
  
"Maybe it is." Jones looked at Marie's window again. "Her secret will be safe with us."  
  
And they disappeared.  
  
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THE END  
  
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Excerpts from the song "Blinded" by Third Eye Blind:  
  
Just an old friend coming over now to visit you and thats what I become I let myself though I know I'm not supposed to but.. you never know when i'm done  
  
I never believed that things they happen for a reason and they never go as planned. I wanted to thank you for a vision that was lost that you returned, would you pass what you understand?  
  
time is passing when it tells us what were left with we become the things we do im a fool yes I am blinded hey you got me but I never gave up on you Not an echo, or a t-shirt, or a swan song that he is born again and its not easy being me well i cant promise i will mend the bend when you believe that we our fixed now from our burden am i falling back to earth? cause you know i'll try again cause i believe that we are lucky we are golden we have stolen moments too close to the sun  
  
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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING ^_^!!! I'm a huge fan of the Matrix1 agents (with Smith topping my list of course ;)). And since Jones and Brown weren't in Reloaded, I just had to write a story as to what could have happened to them :). Once again, thanks for reading.  
  
CRUSH KITA, SMITH!!!! ^o^ 


End file.
